By Jackson Posey | Sports Editor
Baylor men’s basketball has spent most of its 120th season building chemistry amid roster turnover and injury issues. The Bears started the season strong after returning zero minutes from last year’s NCAA Tournament team but haven’t been able to sustain momentum into conference play.
Haters will say that statistics often lie. That may be true. But would I, dear reader, ever lie to you? (The implied answer is no, but that may be pushing it. Please direct any other complaints to my inbox.)
Without further ado, here are five stats which have defined this Baylor men’s basketball season.
6 — Baylor’s NCAA Tournament streak
Head coach Scott Drew has built the Bears from a Big 12 bottom-feeder into, perennially, one of the best teams in the nation. Baylor is one of seven teams to make the past six NCAA Tournaments, and one of three to win a game in all six, joining Houston and Gonzaga.
That streak is now in peril. The Bears are ranked No. 56 in the NET rankings and outside the top 76 in ESPN’s latest Bracketology.
7 — Losses in first eight conference games
Baylor opened conference play 1-7, stumbling out of the gates to its worst record since 2006. The Bears turned the tides Saturday, beating West Virginia 63-53 in Morgantown, and will face an easier schedule down the stretch: four of their final nine conference games come against teams with losing conference records.
Still, they’ll also have to play five top-20 teams down the stretch, including a non-conference clash with top NBA Draft prospect Mikel Brown and No. 20 Louisville (15-6, 5-4 ACC) in Fort Worth. That’s no walk in the park, but it is the fourth-easiest remaining strength of schedule in the Big 12, per ESPN’s BPI.
108 — Total minutes from four expected rotation players
Centers Juslin Bodo Bodo (arm) and James Nnaji, guard JJ White (foot) and forward Maikcol Perez (ACL) haven’t been able to contribute as expected. Losing two potential starting centers and a pair of perimeter contributors has compounded the chemistry issues caused by complete roster turnover.
75.4 — Points allowed per game
By raw numbers, the Bears rank 228th in the nation. They’re 99th nationally in opponent-adjusted defensive rating, which calculates expected points allowed per 100 possessions.
The Bears’ roster was built around defensive anchor Bodo Bodo, who is taking a medical redshirt with an upper-body injury. No one has stepped in to fill his void and provide adequate paint defense, including former NBA Draft pick Nnaji, who has two blocks in 81 minutes. Opponents are shooting 48.0% on 2-pointers against the Bears.
0.97 — Assists per turnover in Big 12 play
Baylor ranks dead last in the Big 12 in turnovers per game during conference play, and second-to-last in assists. The Bears narrowly edge out West Virginia to avoid the conference cellar in AST:TOV ratio.
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With no true point guard on the roster, and White potentially out for the season, the Bears have often relied on combo guard Obi Agbim to run the offense. He’s protected the ball admirably (0.9 turnovers per game), but his team-leading 3.3 assists rank 20th in the Big 12. Every other rotation player is turning the ball over more, while none average more than 2.6 assists.
